Owen denies saying Israel-US relations at 35-year low

The diplomatic storm brewing between Jerusalem and Washington – which had been labeled last week the worst crisis between Israel and the US since the 1970s – seems to have passed, causing minimal damage, after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued warm remarks regarding the “unshakable” bond between the United States and Israel and the US commitment to Israel’s security.

On Tuesday, Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren issued a statement flatly denying a report he had called Israel-US relations last week the worst in 35 years.

“I was flagrantly misquoted about remarks I made in a confidential briefing this past Saturday,” Oren said in a statement. “Recent events do not – I repeat – do not represent the lowest point in the relations between Israel and the United States. Though we differ on certain issues, our discussions are being conducted in an atmosphere of cooperation as befitting longstanding relations between allies. I am confident that we will overcome these differences shortly.”

Separately, senior White House officials are reportedly denying an account in Yediot Achronot last week that US Vice President Joseph Biden had told Netanyahu that Israel was endangering the lives of American troops in the region.

“He never said that, and there’s no basis to assert that he did,” The Atlantic quoted one official as saying. “What he did say in a meeting with the Prime Minister and his senior advisers and his own team was that the US is doing a number of things in our national security interest, and in Israel’s national security interest, and they include a strong effort to build a coalition against Iran’s nuclear program, deploying 200,000 troops in conflict areas in the region, standing against efforts to delegitimize Israel in various international bodies, sometimes virtually alone, acting decisively against terrorists in very significant ways and building probably the strongest defense cooperation relationship with Israel that we’ve seen, including on missile defense.”

Tags: Israel, Jerusalem, Michael Owen, US